Zazzle and Hobby Corner 3

Zazzle and Hobby Corner 3

Hey! It’s an update, which means there must be things to talk about. Well yes. Yes there are.

First and foremost, business. Book 2 of The Last Chronicle of Azurden is taking longer to write than I would like, but I assure everyone, it is being worked on. Aside from numerous other obligations that keep cropping up at inopportune times, a lot of the delay also has to do with Book 2’s complex plot structure. “A Deal in the Darkness” was simple. It involved one viewpoint, an introduction to a new world, and a narrative that took place in essentially two or three locations. Book 2 involves two viewpoints, takes place across an entire continent, and involves much more backstory than Book 1 did. Weaving it all together has been… trying, but I refuse to sacrifice quality by taking shortcuts and making idiotic continuity errors. Also, as I’m sure seasoned readers are probably wondering, no, I am not trying to complicate the plot for complication’s sake. The overall plot structure eventually required the second veiwpoint to surface and be focused upon more regularly than it already has. After all, The Last Chronicle of Azurden isn’t just one story, it’s part of a much grander tapestry I hope to one day expand on when this first series is finished. In this way Book 2 is probably the most critical in the series, hence why I want to make sure it’s the best it can be.

Next, Ellysian Press has opened it’s own storefront through zazzle called the Ellysian vault, selling book reading essentials such as book marks, totes and coffee mugs (or tea mugs if you prefer). I encourage anyone looking for a new reading utensil to pop on in and take a look. You would be helping Ellysian Press and supporting the authors you love to read. Not to mention there is just so much cool stuff featuring the awesome covers of your favorite books. Linky: The Ellysian Vault

Now we get to the Hobby Corner aspect, and something a lot of tabletop hobby enthusiasts have been buzzing about for most of the summer. The New Edition of Warhammer 40,000.

As other parts of this blog will demonstrate, though not a rabid fan, I have devoted a sum of my life and a considerable amount of my capital to the immortal emperor of mankind. From Space Marines, to Tyranids, Grey Knights and Imperial Guard, I have played 40k off and on since high school, and one time even worked at the U.S. based headquarters of Games Workshop itself. For almost four years now, I have been divorced from the hobby due to Games Workshop policies of treating its customers (and employees) as little more than simple commodities, easily gained, and tossed, at their discretion. Nothing demonstrated this mindset more than the complete dissolution of Warhammer Fantasy, their rank and file battle game that, despite lackluster sales, still had a humongous following and several video game adaptations (some of which were ironically released that same year). Now understand, I’m not saying they simply stopped making models for it, or said the last rule book would be the last edition. I’m saying they completely dropped it from the face of existence, to the point they won’t even let you play the game in their stores anymore. To add insult to injury, they replaced it with an infantile skirmish game called Age of Sigmar, that had no sense of balance, and made people do ridiculous and obnoxious things for cheap boons. Having hundreds, (if not thousands) wrapped up in Warhammer Fantasy, and the arrogant responses from Games Workshop marketing department, (not to mention the 40K fans who felt their game invincible) I had enough, and swore GW would not get another dime of my money until they either did a full 360, or sold the IP rights to a company that actually gave a damn about their customers. Fast forward two years later. Games Workshop has had a complete shakeup of their upper management, part of which resulted in the overthrow of evil overlord Tom Kirby. Two of the company’s best creatives are back, and suddenly, their is a significant turnaround concerning the release of their games and the treatment of their IP’s. Warhammer Fantasy is still gone, and will probably remain so, but Age of Sigmar has been reworked, and 40K is due to be overhauled. Marketing is actually reaching out to the customers, and GW stores, which had almost disappeared from the landscape, are slowly starting to return. I began hearing something from the Warhammer hobby community I had not heard in a long time, contentment, even (gasp) praise. Though cautious, I have decided to give GW another chance, and with the release of Warhammer 40K eighth edition, I felt now would be the perfect time. Who knows, maybe in another year, Warhammer Fantasy will return as well.

Sadly, due to very high demand, I have been unable to get a new rulebook at the time of this writing (I was supposed to have one. I’d ordered one, but they are still filling out back orders) and so don’t have a copy of the rules to facilitate a fair discussion. I could talk about what I know, such as vehicles now having wounds, and the return of armor reduction as opposed to straight penetration, but then I might miss something surrounding those aspects that also warrants discussion. That being the case, I’ll end this for now, and return in a week or so when I actually have a copy in hand and can break down my views and opinions on what I think of the changes (for those who care about that sort of thing). Until then, watch this space, as I am already getting new models and expanding one of my armies thanks to the imperial 2 index that came out alongside. Yes, there will be pictures 🙂